SALATA

“Salata”, also known as Salad in English is a Residential Co-op project that aims to house and entertain a community that cultivates, or mixes if you will, a Mediterranean-themed healthy and organic lifestyle curated through an aquaponic method of farming. The Co-op consists of a garden, communal balconies, farmer’s market, and residential units.

In order to create an environment of collaboration and mingling along with a productive atmosphere that fosters growth, the design has spontaneous voids between modular volumes of residential units and vertical farming structures which are placed throughout an open garden space. The Farming Co-Op multi-residential buildings, located on Vermont Avenue, intend to create an interactive living space in which residents can easily visit, grow their vegetation, participate in the final production by either bringing the produce home or selling it back to the local community, or simply just buy weekly groceries in a community garden space. In order to gain maximum exposure to the sunlight, the vegetation of the vertical aquaponic garden is positioned to face the south of the site. The aquaponic farm provides 12,000 sqft outdoor farming deck space which is powered through solar photovoltaic panels. The vegetation is watered with a drip irrigation system which creates the potential for saving water and nutrients as the water is slowly dispersed into the roots of plants. The water is distributed through a network of pipes.

Aquaponics incorporates the two most critical ingredients within Mediterranean cuisine; fish and greens. Therefore, the targeted diet of the residents would be fresh salads, fruit desserts, and fresh fish cooked with herbs. The overall energy of the project is meant to encapsulate a lifestyle that takes its time to smell the roses; people would have more private social areas within the residential side of the project where they can enjoy the voids throughout the corridors, and have peaceful afternoon strolls through the public farming gardens. The market workers and farmers would constantly be surrounded by a positive ambiance of people admiring the produce they are growing.

The farmer’s market will house local farmers and commerce markets around the neighborhood which I'll circulate through the city to facilitate producing and trading local food products grown by the local roof gardens within the community. In the Mediterranean, fresh, whole foods that are organically grown are cooked with olive oil and fresh herbs and families and friends gather around the table and enjoy home-cooked delicacies over long conversations. Meals are not rushed, but savored, and the experience is a healthy and happy one, both for the body and the soul. I designed this project with the aim that every component embody this relaxed, healthy, happy experience and radiate a sense of vitality.